Little Moments of Happiness

Is it a day camp or overnight type camp? They should bring US style sleep away camps  to the UK. There are so many good outdoor locations in the country to do it!

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

There's lots of overnight summer camps here and my kids go frequently.  PGL is the most well known and they have camps all over.

The one my boy is at right now is an overnight camp, held at a University near Winchester.  They are staying in the dorms, so he had a single room with his own bathroom.

One thing they are doing which is pretty cool is a reverse engineering session.  They've got some old photocopiers, printers and phones and are letting the kids tear them apart to see how they work.  This also looks like a bunch of fun.

Here's something that was sitting in front of my kid in one of the pictures they posted.  I'm having trouble figuring out what it is.  Looks like a bunch of batteries, or are those capacitors?  And what's that thing in the middle?  I recognize some resistors but who knows. Any ideas?   It's possible he did the soldering himself. 

Usually I won't post pictures of my kids here because I am afraid that Son of Sailor will come and abduct them.  However, this one was posted by someone else,  so whatever. 

The tech  camp my kid was at has posted a video where each group explains what they did. If you want to see, here is the link:

 https://www.facebook.com/technologycamps/

You don't need a Facebook login to watch the video.  The first post is the one, called Show and tell week 3.  Leo does a presentation starting at 3 minutes into the video. 

I'm impressed by how many girls and women were participating. 

So the kids had to choose one course for their time there?  That would've been a really tough decision.  Leo is your son?  Did he use Fusion 360, then?  Based on the intro to his section, I wasn't sure which CAD/CAM software he worked with.  I do hope it was Fusion 360, as that's free and it's powerful.

That looks awesome! Kids these days get lots of cool opportunities. My summers were all about lakes and swimming and sailing as a kid, but if there'd been camps that did engineering I would have loved it!

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

I just taught my colleagues what "squashing the beef" was and chaos and hilarity ensued!

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

I just taught my colleagues what "squashing the beef" was and chaos and hilarity ensued!

... ?  Don't make me Google that.

... ?  Don't make me Google that.

I did! It seems to be safe! 

Literally has nobody ever heard the phrase "let's squash the beef" in regards to an argument?!?

Their reaction was the same as yours where they asked if that was a euphemism hahah

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

Oooooh, okay.  The phrase makes sense now that I know what it means.  But, man... I had some really strong reservations about Googling it!   

So the kids had to choose one course for their time there?  That would've been a really tough decision.  Leo is your son?  Did he use Fusion 360, then?  Based on the intro to his section, I wasn't sure which CAD/CAM software he worked with.  I do hope it was Fusion 360, as that's free and it's powerful.

They had to sign up for a specific course in advance, some were more expensive than others. 

The course was designed for 12 and under to use TinkerCad and older ones to use Fusion360, but Leo (yes, my son)  asked to use Fusion360 even though he's younger.   He's just come home and showed me his work and I am gobsmacked at how much the quality of prionted stuff has increased.    He printed a piece of plastic chain mail with complicated links that is amazing.  That design was from the internet, but he showed me a lampshade that he modelled from scratch (on the table in the video)  and it's pretty impressive as well. 

They had to sign up for a specific course in advance, some were more expensive than others. 

The course was designed for 12 and under to use TinkerCad and older ones to use Fusion360, but Leo (yes, my son)  asked to use Fusion360 even though he's younger.   He's just come home and showed me his work and I am gobsmacked at how much the quality of prionted stuff has increased.    He printed a piece of plastic chain mail with complicated links that is amazing.  That design was from the internet, but he showed me a lampshade that he modelled from scratch (on the table in the video)  and it's pretty impressive as well. 

Hats off to Leo for opting for Fusion 360!  It's a bit of a learning curve, but it's worth it.  And he got to keep the 3d printer?  So now he has the machine, and he knows how to use the software... you're going to be buying a lot of filament.   This sounds like a fun hobby to get into.  Will you be joining in?

Yes, I see a lot of filament in my future as he did bring the printer home with him.

My daughter who is 16 and wants to study 3D design is already scheming to get her hands on the printer as well.

Yes, I see a lot of filament in my future as he did bring the printer home with him.

My daughter who is 16 and wants to study 3D design is already scheming to get her hands on the printer as well.

I love how interested in technology your kids are, and how well you encourage it! That's awesome

And if you make designs and want them printed in other materials sites like shapeways are great. I've gotten my husband some unique things through there designed by other people.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

I love how interested in technology your kids are, and how well you encourage it! That's awesome

And if you make designs and want them printed in other materials sites like shapeways are great. I've gotten my husband some unique things through there designed by other people.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Thanks Margo.  I'll take a look at shapeways.